But I (wish I) could have told you Vincent

Imagine creating art so permeable and profound it translates to a medium that won’t exist for more than a century after you create it.

Though he did not know it at the time, that’s what Vincent Van Gogh did when he painted his body of work, mostly between 1880 and 1890. Broke, unappreciated and both mentally and physically ill, Van Gogh set a standard for Post-Impressionistic painting with his bright, textured pieces including The Starry Night.

While he may have struggled to find an audience for his artwork during his short life, he found almost immediate posthumous acclaim and recently inspired a wildly popular touring show that draws thousands of people around the world.

I caught an immersive Van Gogh experience last week, and it reminded me, once again, of art’s enternal impact on the human soul. As I sat on the floor of the Lighthouse Artspace in Scottsdale, Arizona and watched some of Van Gogh’s most famous artwork fill the walls and floors around me, I thought about how daunting it must be to represent and replicate an icon’s work.

The presentation also really inspired me and made me want to go to every grade school art, band, choir, theatre and orchestra class and tell the children there to allow themselves to experience the joy of expression now, and to develop their art because its impact will go far beyond their classroom walls.

So, to every painter, photographer, writer, lyricist, musician, commedian, poet, little girl singing “Frozen” in a Ukrainian subway tunnel, I say, carry on! We need art today, and your efforts will have a lasting impact on this old world.

And, to Vincent Van Gogh, painter of 900 pieces, writer of 2,000 letters and slicer of one famous ear, I would like to say, “Your work mattered when you created it and it matters today. Thank you for the beauty, the historical relevance and the honesty of your art.”

I think Don McLean almost got it right when he wrote “Vincent”. But I believe the world was exactly meant for someone as beautiful as Van Gogh.

If you’re a struggling artist and you ever pause, even for a moment, to question whether your efforts matter, consider that Van Gogh had the same insecurities and, 140 years later, his work is still impacting us all.

Paint! Write! Draw! Sing! Play on!

We will all be grateful for your efforts, now and forever.

I took this picture because I thought it was cool that this 138-year old painting looked so fresh and natural on the walls and floors of a modern gallery and I think the exit sign in the middle of the painting makes that point.
Here is my series of two young loves in the midst of a post impressionistic painting…
Cool, right?
Here’s one more. Could have taken place 130 years ago. Cool that is took place during a state-of-the-art presentation today.
Katherine happened to dress like a sunflower, which was perfect when Van Gogh’s Sunflowers became a backdrop for this picture.
Portrait of a photographer.
Reflections of Wheat Fields With Cypresses. I really loved watching this painting stretch across the walls and shiny floors of the Lighthouse Artspace.
A complicated genius who died too young. Van Gogh lives on in his original work and in the recreations that bring his canvasses to life in a whole new medium.

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